MY TOP 5 TIPS
TO DRAW
BETTER
Expanded Upon From
My Youtube Video
ROCKY ROARK
ILLUSTRATOR & DESIGNER
INTRODUCTION
I’ve gotten a lot of people over the years complementing me on my drawing
and sketching abilities. Time after time I hear the same thing follow the
compliment, “I wish I had the skill to draw like that”. Each and every time I
hear this, I laugh. The reason I laugh is because anyone can draw and anyone
can draw well. You just have to work hard to be able to draw great.
So today I have compiled a “Top 5” list for you. This list is geared towards one
thing, and that is to help you get better at drawing. Each and every one of
these tips are things that I utilize myself all time time. I use them when I am
trying to up level my skills or if I’m getting a little rusty and need to get back
into the swing of things.
Also one thing that I want to stress before I continue is that these skills
can deteriorate over time without practice. (This comes from personal
experience)
My Top 5 Tips to Draw Better
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TIP NO. 1:
Find Inspiration
Probably one of the hardest things ever when you’re drawing is trying to
figure out what you even want to draw, or even what style you want to draw
in. (At least its a problem I always seem to have) The best thing is to go and search for bits of inspiration and to even collect
them for later. You never know when you will need a spark of inspiration.
Personally, I like to use Pinterest as my main hopper and source for
inspiration. Right now as you read this, I have numerous boards of
inspiration on Pinterest. My illustration board alone has over 6,000 piece of
inspiration alone.
To give you an example, lets say that I wanted to work on practicing hands
and different styles. I’d head over to Pinterest and go straight to the search
bar and type in “Hands Sketch”. Instantly I have hundreds if not thousands of
images to look through and pull inspiration from. Now just for those few of you who might be asking “why not type ‘Hands
and Sketch’” well there is a pretty good reason. When you search are
Pinterest and you put separate words, their search engine breaks them
up into different tags it search for. When you add “and” in the middle you
connect them and it searches them both as one tag.
My Top 5 Tips to Draw Better
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TIP NO. 2:
Focus on One Thing at a Time
I’ve seen a lot of people over the years show me their sketchbooks and the
first thing I notice is that they are completely all over the place. The problem
is that they are trying to practice too many things at once and they aren’t
giving enough focus to one particular subject matter.
Now before someone calls me out on this, let me say this, when I’m bored I
will fill up a page full of random doodles and those are what I normally share
across my social media outlets. There’s one major difference with that though, we’re not here to draw for
boredom, we’re drawing to get better.
So when you sit down to sketch, sit down with a purpose in mind. Figure out,
by looking at your inspiration (if you need to), what you’d like to practice on. When I’m sitting down to practice something, lets keep hands as an example,
I’ll write on my sheet of paper “Hand Study”. That sheet of paper then is
meant only for drawing hands. I’ll sit there and draw different types of hands
practicing different styles and more. Trust me though, I know that after a while it gets kinda boring drawing just
hands and thats ok. You can take a break or switch to a different subject
matter, but just remember that sheet of paper you’re working on is only for
drawing hands.
My Top 5 Tips to Draw Better
WWW.ROCKYROARK.COM
4
TIP NO. 3:
Draw the Same Thing Over & Over
There is power in repetition, and the reason why is because it builds muscle
memory. As most of you know, muscle memory is something that is used in
many different skills such as that of a chef and her knife or a sculptor and his
chisel. It is also used by an artist and his pencil.
When you sit down and you’re working on your “Hand Study” you can choose
to draw 50 different hands or 50 of the same hands. By choosing to draw the
same hands over and over, you’re practicing the same stroke over and over
again. By drawing this same stroke over and over, you’re creating that muscle
memory. As you do this more and more you become more familiar with your subject
matter, so much so that when you sit down the next time you can draw that
same hand without any reference or inspiration at all. Its a beautiful thing
when you can just draw something out of thin air because you’ve practiced it
and developed it.
The best part of creating muscle memory is that you can build upon it. Once
you master a single hand type, the easier the next one will be and the one
after that. The same is true with almost anything you want to draw. My Top 5 Tips to Draw Better
WWW.ROCKYROARK.COM
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TIP NO. 4:
Try Different Mediums
As you will find, the more you draw, the more comfortable you’ll be using the
same old type of medium. In case you don’t know what I mean by medium,
I’m talking about your favorite drawing tool (i.e. Your pencil or pen). Sometimes I find its better to try and break out of the same old medium that
you’re used to and push yourself. Get out of your comfort zone.
If you love using a pencil to draw, try something more permanent, like a pen.
If you’re used to using a pen, use a marker. If you use a marker, use a brush
pen and so on and so forth. Heck, if you have kids, steal their crayons and
use that.
The more proficient you become with different types of mediums, the better
you will become at drawing and sketching. Think of it this way, your favorite
pencil or pen is like training wheels. You’ve gotten good at using them but the
only way you’ll be able to be a big boy or girl is to lose those training wheels
and push yourself to ride a bigger bike. (I know its a pretty weird analogy but
its true)
Personally my favorite drawing tool is my Pentel GraphGear Mechanical
pencil and my Papermate felt tip pen. Just because these are my favorite
things to draw with doesn’t mean they are the only things I use to draw. My Top 5 Tips to Draw Better
WWW.ROCKYROARK.COM
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TIP NO. 5:
Start Drawing Today!
There is no time like the present, so you should start practicing today!
Start today by carving out just 30 minutes in your busy day. Find a comfy
spot on you couch or somewhere quiet with a pad of paper and pencil and
start drawing. Remember though, draw with a purpose in mind.
Do this every day this week. Do it next week as well and the week after
that. The more days you do this without stopping the more it becomes an
ingrained habit. It takes a lot of hard work to take yourself from the starting position to the
finish line when it comes to developing a skill, whether its a new skill or one
that has been collecting cob webs in your kitchen drawer. Some people may
have a natural talent when it comes to drawing, but that doesn’t mean they
don’t have to work hard and practice to get better.
Its really like the old adage says “Practice Makes Perfect” and with enough
practice anyone can become good and even a great doodler.
My Top 5 Tips to Draw Better
WWW.ROCKYROARK.COM
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IN CLOSING...
I really hope you enjoyed these tips and found some great new ideas to
implement into your daily lives. In the future, I will be creating more pieces
of premium content such as this one here. My primary goal will always be to
help share some of the things that I’ve learned over the years and I hope you
all share your experiences as well.
If you have any ideas that you would like me to talk about please feel free to
reach out and let me know. My proverbial door is always open and I’m always
listening.
I just want to say thank you to everyone who views this and until next time,
remember, stay passionate, stay positive and stay creative!
My Top 5 Tips to Draw Better
WWW.ROCKYROARK.COM
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THANK YOU
Stay Passionate. Stay Positive.
Stay Creative.
ROCKY ROARK
ILLUSTRATOR & DESIGNER